David Sweanor has spearheaded the development of world-leading tobacco control initiatives both in Canada and globally since the early 1980s, first as counsel to the Canadian Non-Smokers’ Rights Association and then as an independent consultant, academic, adviser and funder.

He played a key role in issues of tobacco taxation, advertising restrictions, package warnings, environmental tobacco smoke, smoking cessation, litigation and product regulation. In doing so, his career has focused on how legal measures can greatly impact population health, and his particular interest has been in the interaction of law and economics as a determinant of public health.

He has also focused throughout his career on risk reduction strategies, including better consumer information and the provision of less hazardous alternatives to cigarette smoking. He has worked with bodies such as the World Health Organization, World Bank, Pan American Health Organization and International Union.